Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

A bowl barrow 500m north-east of Oak Tree Farm: one of a number of barrows on Coombe Heath

A Scheduled Monument in East Stoke, Dorset

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 50.6651 / 50°39'54"N

Longitude: -2.1895 / 2°11'22"W

OS Eastings: 386701.934129

OS Northings: 85060.408641

OS Grid: SY867850

Mapcode National: GBR 21R.C7T

Mapcode Global: FRA 6799.WB6

Entry Name: A bowl barrow 500m north-east of Oak Tree Farm: one of a number of barrows on Coombe Heath

Scheduled Date: 20 November 1961

Last Amended: 29 March 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008025

English Heritage Legacy ID: 21933

County: Dorset

Civil Parish: East Stoke

Traditional County: Dorset

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Dorset

Church of England Parish: Wool, East Burton and Combe Keynes

Church of England Diocese: Salisbury

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on lowland heath close to the
Dorset coast.
The barrow mound is 11m in diameter and 1m high. Surrounding it is a ditch
from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This
has become partially infilled over the years, but survives as a slight
depression c.1m wide and 0.2m deep.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments
dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most
examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple
burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often
acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar,
although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form
and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl
barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring
across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are
a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable
variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.

The bowl barrow on Coombe Heath has survived well and contains archaeological
remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape
in which it was constructed. This barrow is amongst a number which survive on
this piece of heathland between the River Frome and the Dorset coast.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, , County of Dorset , (1970), 442

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.